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A kitchen tool that is really worth buying.

Kitchen gadgets come and go in most homes as many are tempted by items that are used a few times and then are resigned to the back of the cupboard and ultimately the local bootie. However one item that I really love, and which I use several times a week is the Lakeland Pineapple Corer which is absolutely fantastic, so let's take a look in detail at this product.

Retailing for £8.99 from Lakeland Limited this item has for many years been one of their top sellers. Mine is quite old now and the version they now sell has a tool to allow you to make wedges, whereas mine removes the pineapple in one continuous spiral, so I am sure the newer model would be an improvement. Lakeland also sell The Oxo Good Grips version of this now which I am sure would be equally good, as most of their equipment is to a high standard and this retails for the same price.

I wish I could point you to a cash-back site that deals with Lakeland but sadly the last one they used- Give or Take no longer offers this, so it is a question of ordering online or popping into your local branch.

My pineapple corer is identical to the new Lakeland version in every aspect except for the ability to create wedges, but this is easily done after coring with a knife. The tool is very simple to use, it consists of a long handle and three adaptors that you can use to cope with different size pineapples.

The bottom is serrated, and to use you simply cut off the top of the pineapple check to see which adaptor is needed, this is easily done as you can gauge the size of the fruit. Then you simply press the tool into the pineapple and turn the handle several times clockwise until the tool reaches the base, after which you pull firmly and the pineapple comes out in one long spiral leaving all the skin and core behind. It operates like a giant corkscrew pulling the flesh away from the core and skin.

I absolutely adore this tool. Pineapples have long been one of my favourite fruits, and I think many are put off them by the preparation needed. Using this tool allows you to really harvest all the pineapple, and it is amazing how much there is from even one small fruit. Many of the large supermarkets have taken advantage of the love shoppers have for pineapples but the hatred of preparation, and they now offer ready prepared fruit in plastic containers. This is so uneconomical compared to buying the fruit, and it only takes seconds to harvest it using this method. Added to this pineapples are so often reduced in stores now, and you can often buy really large ones for less than a pound, and they make a lovely simple dessert with yoghurt or ice cream.

Any Negatives?---------------------I think the only slight problem with this tool would be if you let the fruit become too ripe, and then you may encounter the problem of the fruit coming out in pieces rather than spirals, and this will create masses of juice everywhere. It all gets rather messy so the ideal thing is to pick the pineapples in perfect condition. The trick here is to understand how they are grown and harvested. They are picked when perfectly ripe and they do not ripen with age but rather rot with time, and also can be bruised in transit. This is why my daughter doesn't like them in the UK because she has eaten them in Thailand straight from the tree, and says it is a different taste altogether. To try to ascertain which fruits are the best you need to look for a good golden colour at the base, no red or brown discolouration and no wrinkling of the skin. You can also smell the base and if it has a light pineapple aroma it should be fine, but if it smells of vinegar leave it on the shelf as it is rotting. The flesh should also be firm when pressed lightly and the foliage at the top should look healthy and fresh.

Some people on the Lakeland Limited website have pointed out that this is difficult to use if you are left-handed. It can be done but it is quite hard to master so this may be a consideration to bear in mind.

Pineapple preparation is in full swing in my house at the moment as my son is home from university and these are his favourite fruits. It means the tool is being heavily used but it is easily cleaned in the dishwasher or by hand in seconds. If you wish to you can make use of the shell of the pineapple and use it as a beautiful bowl for exotic desserts, or to house a tropical fruit salad for example at a party as the tool preserves this in one piece. I always feel sad throwing it away as there is something so lovely about the way it looks!

I highly recommend this gadget as it allows ease of preparation for pineapples and saves a fortune if you have been tempted by those plastic dishes of ready prepared fruit. The gadget has longevity on its side- I can verify this as my tool is over five years old and is still functioning perfectly. It is a wonderful little tool and happily earns its place in my kitchen!

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good little gadget

We bought our Lakeland Ltd 3 in 1 Pineapple Corer/Slicer about eight months ago (from Lakeland, of course) and it cost just over £6. It is made from strong and sturdy plastic and it washes out well after you have finished using it.

It is so easy and simple to use that even a child could do it. The Lakeland Ltd 3 in 1 Pineapple Corer/Slicer comes with three separate adaptors which are intended to fit any size of pineapple - ie small, medium or large. To use I simply insert the corer into the mid section of the pineapple, push it down and twist it round. It is really that easy! I was amazed at how it immediately cores, peels and slices the pineapple all in one go with no mess and no wastage. We do love fresh pineapple in our house and we do tend to eat a lot of it so I would say that you would be better off getting this if you do eat a lot of pineapple like we do.

We were spending a fortune in Marks and Spencers buying those pre-packed pineapple slices and chunks in the plastic wrapping and then if we bought our own pineapple to save money and tried to chop it ourselves, we were finding we were wasting a lot of it and making a right old mess into the bargain. With this great little gadget you avoid all that and it is really great value for money in my opinion.

We use the empty shell sometimes to serve a selection of of other fruits as a centre piece for the table as it looks lovely and quite decorative and it seems a shame to just throw it out. Guests have remarked how attractive it looks. All in all a great little gadget and very useful to have.

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Perfectly prepped pineapple - minimum effort, maximum pineapple

Lakeland Limited that store full of kitchen gadgets that you never knew you needed and end up filling up your cupboards. However this is not going to be the case with my latest must have gadget from Lakeland.

I have a real fondness for fresh pineapple but the pre-prepared stuff is exorbitantly expensive and the whole fruits never seemed quite worth the effort of prepping, a serious test of my knife skills and the prickly skin and hard core ending up all too present in my fruity snack. So on the whole I had taken to glancing wistfully at the pineapples whilst going for the more manageable, but somehow less exciting, bananas and apples.

And then a family member recommended the lakeland pineapple corer to me. I had seen this in store before but was a little dubious about whether it would be worth the £8.95 price tag (price seems to be slowly creeping up as the first time I saw this it was £7.99).

The pineapple corer comes in an unassuming cardboard box with a set of small 'how to use' pictures on the back. For a Lakeland fruit related gadget the corer comes in a very quite white and grey plastic. There is a handle and three varying size corer attachments. Using the pictures on the back of the box it is possible to see what weight of pineapple each corer is recommended for. For the first (and possibly last) time in my life I weighed the pineapple I had purchased and so selected the medium corer. I think it is also possible to see which size corer to use by simply using your eyes to work out which on would fit the pineapple the best.

The corer attachment clicks onto the handle easily and is held fixedly in place by a simple push button locking mechanism. The whole corer is constructed from a strong plastic from the t-bar handle to the cutting mechanism.

Following the minimalistic pictures on the back of the box I cut the leafy top off the pineapple. And this is where I have my first user's niggle with the corer. The instructions are very minimal, the corer is very simple to use but a couple of hints as to correct usage such as where to place on the pineapple or which direction to turn would have been useful the first time I tried the corer. Anyway I carried on glibly putting the corer 'blade' flat against the cut pineapple top and applying a light downward pressure. One hint from me at this point check that the central tube of the corer is over the core itself to avoid getting unwanted firm bits in your fruity treat!

Keep on turning until you have reached the bottom of the pineapple, I have not yet gained the knack of telling when this is yet although cutting through the skin is I think unlikely and not the end of the world if you do manage it. On reaching the bottom of the pineapple firmly (and carefully due to the juice in the pineapple skin shell) pull the pineapple's innards out and you will be greeted by a spiral of pineapple all ready for you to serve as you wish. A prepared pineapple without having to wield a large knife.

I confess that I haven't checked whether this is dishwasher proof as I don't actually have one but it hand washed easily enough.

As stated at the start this is definitely, in my opinion, a keeper gadget. The initial cost of the corer is recouped when you consider the money saved by not buying pre-prepared pineapple or binning the pineapple that you haven't managed to separate from skin and core with a knife. The instructions did any on first usage but after that the corer has been simplicity itself to use. I am really struggling to find any negatives for this gadget, the only one I can think of is the three 'blades' and handle combo do take up quite a bit of room in my somewhat limited kitchen storage but I wil always make an effort to make space for it.

A summer eating lots of pineapple looms and I will be recommending this gadget to everyone.

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Get aboard the Pineapple Express!

Here is an ingenious invention that I wish I had thought of first! The 3-in-1 Pineapple Corer and Slicer allows you to eat tasty, healthy fresh pineapple without the sometimes time consuming task of peeling and coring with a knife. If you frequently dine on fresh pineapple and chop it yourself, you will know the irritation of those little brown spiky bits that always seem to escape your kitchen weapon! I came home from university to find this little gadget sitting at home waiting to be used, as my mum knows I love pineapple and wanted to let me try it out first and see what I thought.

The corer and slicer comes in three sizes that you use according to the relative size of your pineapple: small, medium and large. Since I had a small pineapple to hand, I chose the smallest corer. This feature makes sure your core the pineapple right to the bottom and attempts to minimise wastage. It essentially works like a kind of corkscrew whereby you attach a turning handle to the corer and then use manpower to press down and twist simultaneously. Though this sounds a bit complicated, the aim of the device is obviously to save time and I think it achieves this pretty well. It cuts out the woody core (which I like to chew and eat anyway!) and creates excellent little rings just like you'd get out of a tin.

Advantages

It is really not to bad pricewise, £6.36 from Lakeland.co.uk. However, I think perhaps you might have to examine your monthly pineapple usage to figure out if it is economical or whether it will become just another unused kitchen gadget bought on a whim! It is dishwasher safe which is great, though it is white plastic so beware of washing it with leftover tomato juices and sauces otherwise you might get that nasty orangey tinge that turns your stomach a bit! The website is quite good as it recommends you use the shell of the pineapple you are left with as a bowl for cocktails or desserts- it could make quite the dinner party centrepiece! I also heard once that a good use for pineapple skins that would otherwise be thrown away is to place them in a jug of soda water or lemonade and leave for a few hours or perhaps a day to make a refreshing drink. I like this corer/slicer because it is encouraging people to eat more fresh pineapple rather than the stuff out of tins, which will probably have a lower nutrient content and be exposed for quite some time to the metals used in the can. Sure, we hear that everything causes cancer these days, but I think most of us intuitively know that fresh is probably better for you than tinned or packaged foods. It is so much tastier too! You could use the pineapple in fruit salads, in smoothies, on pizza, in curries or in a retro pineapple upside-down cake.

Disadvantages:

There is always going to be a few problems with a gadget that tries to save time by minimising human effort. I personally really enjoy the process of chopping up fruits and veggies! It can be quite therapeutic. When you chop by hand you can always use your own judgement in angling a knife and being more accurate so that you minimise waste. It is especially important with regards to fruits from around the world- there needs to be minimal wastage in order to even begin to justify the food miles each of these tropical gems has travelled. This device doesn't waste too much if you pick a narrower pineapple, though I can imagine a wider pineapple would result in a bit more waste around the edges. I found when using the device the first time, a lot of juice was ejected out of the top and I spilt it everywhere, which was a shame. I would definitely advise doing it in a bowl of some kind to catch the sweet nectar as it is so delicious! There is a very basic diagrammatic instruction on the box, which was decent enough to follow but perhaps could have been explained clearer. That said, Lakeland have a video on their online store in the section on this product showing you how to use it which is very helpful. When actually using the gadget I also found that you had to have quite a lot of momentum to get it right down to the bottom of the fruit. My dad tried it out and we all had a great laugh, so aside from these few faults, it is a great thing to try out for its price.

All in all, I think it is a clever gadget but only worth it if you like pineapple and can be careful about selecting a pineapple that won't have too much waste when the corer is used.

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A fantastic pineapple corer that saves me time and wasted food.

I am a huge fan of kitchen gadgets and I love nothing more than browsing the Lakeland site when I've got a little money to spare and when I saw the Lakeland Pineapple Corer advertised I just had to throw one in to my virtual basket as I love to make delicious tropical desserts with sorbert and mango and stuff it inside a pineapple for presentation but I get very frustrated at the amount of waste that usually occurs.

The pineapple corer is looks a little like a corkscrew and you simple push it down in to the pineapple and twist it and then it will peel, core and slice the pineapple in one go and then leave you with the virtually empty shell of a pineapple which you can then either discard or use for decorational food purposes as I do. The pineapple is sliced lovely and evenly and if I've going to be serving fresh fruit as a dessert then after I've used this pineapple corer I need do nothing further to the pineapple but serve it.

The corer is incredibly easy to use and has saved me lots of wasted pineapple since I first purchased it. It costs £6.36 at present from the Lakeland website or in a Lakeland store and it's a bargain really as I've used it around 20 or 30 times already and probably saved more money than this in wasted pineapple and serving sorbet in a pineapple always looks quite effective and it's great even just to serve drinks in the shell of the pineapple.

I would definitely recommend this pineapple corer and for this reason I am rating it 5/5. It's a fantastic idea and one that's saved me so much time and effort as well as helping me serve better presented desserts to my family & friends.

The corer comes with three adaptors for small, medium & large pineapples and I've found I've needed to use all three since I've had it and one of them always fits the pineapple I have very well.

I would definitely suggest buying one of these if you enjoy pineapple and want to cut down on wastage and time spent preparing it for eating.

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pineapple corer and slicer

I love buying kitchen gadgets, some more useful than others! Browsing in Lakeland, Windermere last year I discovered a wonderful gadget and would like to tell you about it. The gadget in question is a 3 in 1 pineapple corer and slicer. I love pineapple but hate the effort involved in preparing them and no matter how hard I try I always end up with a lot of waste whilst still retaining those horrible prickly bits! This gadget promised to solve my problems!

The pineapple corer and slicer is a very simple gadget and really easy to use. It consists of a plastic handle and a hollow plastic tube. You get 3 tubes or adapters, so you can core and slice any size of pineapple. It looks like a very large corkscrew, which is how it works too.

To use you simply select the size of tube and click onto the handle. The tube has a serrated edge inside and a round cutting blade at the end. I suggest you place the pineapple on a low surface to allow you space to push down onto the pineapple. Cut the top off the pineapple, line the plastic tube up with the core of the pineapple and then screw down until you reach the bottom. As you screw the core will begin to be pulled up. The pineapple comes out in one long spiral all ready for you to cut.

The shell of the pineapple can be used to serve the pineapple if you want to impress! The remaining juice can be served with the pineapple or you can simply enjoy a glass of fresh pineapple juice!

This gadget is not only really useful but easy to clean too. It can be washed by hand or placed in the dishwasher. Since buying this we have eaten a lot more pineapple and wasted less too! Pineapple is a very healthy dessert and can be used in savoury meals too. I like to ad pineapple to stir fries and curry. My children love pineapple and I often give them a little plastic tub full to take as part of their lunch.

I really can't think of many cons for this gadget but if pushed I would say it takes a bit of strength to push the tube through the pineapple -placing the pineapple on a low surface helps. The gadget does take up room as its not small, but I am more than happy to allocate it a place in my kitchen!

The pineapple corer and slicer is available from Lakeland and costs £6.36.

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Simple to use gadget for peeling, coring and slicing a pineapple

I love fresh pineapple but could never abide the mess when trying to chop one up. The juice runs everywhere, removing the core is a chore I hate and as for removing all those prickly bits on the skin - need I say more! However, all this is a thing of the past since my sister gave me a pineapple corer from Lakeland. It claims to peel and slice a pineapple quicker than opening a can. And whilst I think it is one of the best kitchen gadgets I have ever come across, I don't know that I would agree with that claim.

It is a very simple gadget to use and actually comes in two pieces. The first piece is the handle which clicks into the second piece, namely a hollow plastic tube. The tube has a spiral cutting disc near the bottom edge and a serrated edge in the middle of the tube. Firstly you need to cut the top of your pineapple. Do not do as I did on my first attempt and cut the bottom off as well. If you do, you will have a lot of pineapple juice to clear up afterwards! Once you have removed the pineapple top, line up the serrated teeth in the hollow tube with the core of the pineapple. Now turn the handle clockwise, whilst pushing down at the same time. I would suggest you have the pineapple on a low work surface or table as this makes it easier when you are pushing down into the pineapple. As you turn the handle, the core goes up inside the hollow tube and the spiral cutter slices the pineapple at the same time. Once you feel you have reached the bottom on the pineapple, withdraw the corer and you should have one long spiral piece of pineapple that you can now separate into individual slices or chop into chunks. If I am going to store it in the fridge, I usually pour some of the juice from the pineapple shell in with the fruit as this will help to stop it drying out. Alternatively, if you like to drink pineapple juice, pour yourself a glass.

As the outer shell is intact except for the top, it can be used at a dinner party as a novel way to serve a dessert or cocktails.

Cleaning the corer is simple. Just unclick the handle from the tube and push the core from the centre of the tube. It can then be hand washed or put in the dishwasher as it is dishwasher safe.

It is currently on sale on the Lakeland website for £6.36 and in my opinion, it is money well spent. It is such a simple device but so effect. I wish someone had invented this a long time ago and saved me all those years of heartache trying to cut up a pineapple. I can't praise this gadget highly enough.

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So much easier than traditional pineapple sliceing.

This may seem like another 'must have' useless gadget, another one of those things where you have always been perfectly capable of slicing a pineapple so why on earth would you want to buy a special pineapple slicer.Believe me you do need one of these, it has changed my whole outlook on pineapples. For a start there is no more faffing around with cutting it all up. All you do is slice the top off, and using the corer like a corkscrew twist it in a clockwise direction until it reaches the bottom. You then pull it up and hey presto have a full spiral of fresh pineapple. There is no mess, no juice splashed all up the wall, no cut fingers to deal with. We had a birthday party and used it on lots of pineapples, we used the pineapple for foodie things and used the empty Pineapple shell for pinacolada cocktails with loads of umbrellas and swizzle sticks. They went down a storm.The gadget is £6.50 from Lakeland stores or online at www.lakeland.co.uk there is a postage charge of £4.95 though so would be worth waiting until you want something else or visit one of their stores.

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Pineapple corer and slicer

I was intrigued when scanning through my Lakeland magazine to find a Vacu Vin pineapple slicer. To clarify - this is not a lakeland branded product, but is only available in the UK from LP.

I paid £4.99 for this product which came with this description: ready made slices in one easy action. Quick and easy. Removes core. Retaining juice in the pineapple. Keeps shell intact.

In the box you get 3 corers - small, medium and large, with an interchangeable handle. I find this very useful as it is easy to adapt to any shape or size pineapple. I find this very useful as it ensures minimal waste of product. The hard, woody core is also cut out and left in the pineapple.

It easily washable, and dish washer safe as labelled on the box. The pineapple comes out as a continuous spiral or around 1.5cm thickness. It is safe for children to use as there is no blade, only a serrated edge for cutting. This is also a benefit as a knife blade would become blunt over time.

The only problem with this product is that you have to press really hard to cut the pineapple. Another slight issue is that there are no detailed instructions in the box, but a 3 step diagram shows all there is to know.

Overall a great time saver and well worth a fiver! :)

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Easy, clean pineapple slicing with no more spikey bits

When my mum bought me one of these for Xmas I thought it was just another useless stocking filler but, two years later , as I prepare to order a replacement (the first one has worn out), I can honestly say that this is the best kitchen device that I have used for ages. It makes fresh pineapple easy and accessible and I have recommended it to everyone.

Simple to use, easy to clean it creates pineapple rings without all the nasty spiky bits and it takes just a few minutes.

I can't recommend this device strongly enough and if there is anybody out there still daft enough to be peeling and slicing pineapples in a conventional way, I pity them.

It really is great.

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The idea of a gadget that would peel and core a pineapple really appealed to me so I sent away to Lakeland Ltd for their pineapple peel and core set. It cost just £4.50. The instructions were simple. You cut the top off the pineapple and place gadget on top. That bit was easy but when it came to getting the spiral 'thingie' to go down into the pineapple, I just couldn't do it. A friend put the gadge on the top of the pineapple, then pushed it down while turning it clockwise. It worked quite easily. It took a few minutes for us both to realise but I am (very) left handed and I had everything completely the wrong way round. I did eventually manage to use it in a right handed manner but it was extremely difficult.

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I love gadgets for the kitchen. For many years now I have wrestled with the Fresh Pineapple, which comes in our Fresh Food Hamper. I always end up with sore hands and the most horrid yellow mess, supposing to be freshly prepared pineapple, hacked to bits, not at all, looking like the nicely shaped circles from the tins. Where was I going wrong? Well this year is going to be different, with the purchase of a Pineapple slicer and corer from the Lakeland Ltd Mail Order Catalogue, costing £4.50. You cut the top off the pineapple, put the gadget central on the top of the remaining pineapple, then push while turning clockwise, you end up with a spiral of pineapple, perfectly shaped, the cylinder core and the pineapple skin. I have bought so many new fangled gadgets that don’t really make your life any easier, that just end up above the units in the kitchen, never to see the light of day again, out of pure frustration. This Pineapple Corer and Slicer is amazing and so quick and very easy to use and clean. I used it yesterday for the first time and I was amazed how easy it was to use and it was an effortless task, which normally takes hours, but was completed in Minutes with hardly any mess or much wastage. I would advise though that you do this on the draining board as lots of juice comes out of the bottom of the pineapple, when turning. I will buy, whole pineapples now, whenever I fancy them, the world is my oyster. Fresh Fruit Salads with Fresh Pineapple, Gammon Steaks with yes you guessed it Fresh Pineapple. Heaven.